Mental Health Problems In Men

Trending News: Study Reveals Just How Much You Don't Know About Your Own Mental Health

Why Is This Important?

Because there is still a strong and highly prevalent stigma behind men being able to recognise and discuss mental health issues.

Long Story Short

Questioning over 1500 Australian men, The Movember Foundation’s ‘Man Files’ study, released today, found that just one in three men take their health and well-being seriously, with only one in five saying they’re currently healthy and happy.

Long Story

Although according to the US National Institute of Mental Health women are 70% more likely to experience depression during the course of their lifetimes, the male experience of traversing mental health is, for the most part, unspoken.

Results from The Movember Foundation’s ‘Man Files’ study of 1500 Australian men showed 50% of men can't recognise symptoms of depression, while three times as many men say they would lie to their boss about needing time off work for a mental health issue as opposed to a serious physical issue. It found men were also more likely to discuss mental health issues with their GP or other health professional than their own partner, and were more likely to consult the internet over their own fathers.

Staggering statistics for a country where in 2012, according to BeyondBlue.org.au,“approximately 75% of people who died by suicide were males.”

The study also found three in four men were unfamiliar with prostate and testicular cancer symptoms, while eight in ten under the age of 30 didn’t believe testicular cancer was of concern for them, despite it being the second most common cancer in their age bracket.

Although testicular and prostate cancer do have a relatively high cure/survival rate of 95% and up, both types of cancer can lead to a lowered sex drive and erectile dysfunction, with 20-60% of survivors suffering from anxiety and depression as a result.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Why are men so afraid of discussing mental health issues and how do we change these attitudes that keep men silent?

Disrupt Your Feed: Time to drop the macho act and open up on mental health... before it’s too late.

Drop This Fact: More than 350 million people suffer from depression worldwide, with the Middle East and North Africa exhibiting the highest rates.